Airport Avenger: Tips and Top Secrets for Airlines, Airfares, Fees, Security and Cancelations

Bad weather can create a travel nightmare. If your flight is delayed or canceled because of that, you have certain rights that airlines must honor.

Compensation is more generous from European airlines than from U.S. carriers when flights are canceled. The European rules also apply to non-EU airlines flying out of EU airports.

Airlines operating in the U.S. do not have to pay for food or accommodations for stranded passengers, or do more than rebook passengers on the next available flight when there is a cancellation. U.S. airlines have specific compensation requirements for passengers who are “bumped” involuntarily from overbooked flights.

In Europe for flights of 900 miles (1,500 km) or less and a delay of more than two hours, you must be given something to eat and drink, two free phone calls, emails or faxes. For delays of five hours or more, you also get a ticket refund plus a free flight back to your initial departure point, if that applies. If you must stay overnight before another flight is available, your airline must pay for a hotel room.

Read more below about what U.S. airlines will (or will not) do for you if your flight is canceled or you are bumped from an overbooked flight.

Bumpy Ride.

Passengers get bumped from flights when airlines overbook. Why, you might ask, would an airline overbook in the first place? It's because there are folks, business travelers for example, who aren't sure when they'll be flying. They buy full-fare, refundable tickets on more than one flight, use only one and get a refund on the unused ticket.

Sometimes airlines substitute a smaller plane with fewer seats, if the original plane scheduled for the flight can't be used for some reason.

In either case, there are too many passengers and too few seats.

In the first nine months of 2010, U.S. airlines bumped over 53,000 people. That's 1.19 of every 10,000 fliers. Although not many passengers get bumped (see how your airlines ranks in the chart below), fewer flights and fuller planes could increase your chances of getting bumped.

Any Volunteers?

There's a difference between voluntary and involuntary bumping. When a flight is overbooked, a gate agent asks for volunteers to take a later flight and, perhaps, get a travel voucher good for a future flight. If you've got a flexible schedule, it can be a good way to get a free or almost free flight.

But be wary of vouchers. They may come with terms and exclusions that limit when and where they can be used and make them tough to redeem. Ask for cash instead or a ticket that can be used without restrictions.

If not enough people volunteer to take later flights, the airline will start bumping passengers, telling them: "Sorry. You're not taking this flight." If that happens to you, you'll be reimbursed under rules set down by the government.

The airline must pay you the price of a one-way ticket, up to $400 cash, if you're rebooked to reach your destination within one to two hours of your original arrival. That doubles to $800 if it takes longer.

When you get bumped, the government requires airlines to give you a written statement describing your rights. Airlines have been fined for not doing that.

Canceled!

Flights are canceled all the time, mostly because of weather. Or maybe there's something wrong with the plane or the crew didn't make it.


Airlines will try to get you on the next available flight. On the airline's website, check the "Contract (or Conditions) of Carriage," which spells out the policies and what an airline will or won't do for you.


Fewer flights and more crowded planes mean the next available seat could be days away when there are widespread cancelations. Have a plan so you don't wind up sleeping on the terminal floor.


How About a Refund?

It's possible to get a full refund, even for a nonrefundable ticket, in certain situations. The airlines generally will give you your money back, if your flight is canceled and they rebook you on a flight that's hours and hours away from the original flying time. Not just a couple of hours.


The airlines consider this an "involuntary" refund because you had nothing to do with being put on a flight that would get you to your destination a lot later. You'll find it mentioned in an airline's "contract of carriage," where they lay out what they will or won't do for you. You'll find it on their websites.

Delta Tries to Turn the Tables.

Delta Air Lines is trying to get you to commit to how much you'll accept for giving up your seat on an overbooked flight--before they even ask for volunteers. When you check in at a Delta airport kiosk, there's now a screen asking you how much money you'd accept to give up your seat, if asked.


What's wrong with this picture? First, Delta says right up front that it will go with the lowest bidders. Of course they will! They've shifted the burden (and expense) of getting passengers to give up seats on overbooked flights from themselves to passengers. Delta doesn't have to, say, offer a free flight and $200 to anyone who volunteers, if someone has already told them they'll do it for $100 and no free flight.


Delta and other airlines still have to follow government rules for involuntarily bumping passengers from overbooked flights. But now they're looking for customers to lock in cheap compensation for giving up their seats.


Don't fall for it. You're being inconvenienced because the airline chose to deliberately overbook a flight. Either skip the commitment page or enter a high amount. After all, they owe you.

What are the Chances?

Common sense might tell you that a flight that's only half-full, or a regional flight on a smaller plane, is likely to be canceled when the weather takes a turn for the worse. After all it's easier for airlines to rebook passengers from flights with few passengers.

So the chances of having your flight canceled could be reduced by flying on busier routes with fuller planes. Having a lot of business-class passengers on board apparently helps too. A study at the University of California-Berkeley found that flights with more business-class passengers were less likely to be canceled.

Maybe You Can do a Little Better.

Haggle—especially if you're on a popular flight at a busy time of day. The best flights for haggling can be weekday late-afternoon or evening flights favored by business travelers who aren't eager to get stuck overnight. You might get more cash and upgrades for giving up your seat on a New York-Chicago flight than on one from Detroit to Orlando.

If it looks like you'll have to stay overnight, U.S. airlines don't have to pay for a hotel room, meals or give you a refund on an economy ticket. But it doesn't hurt to ask.

Don't badger harried gate attendants with demands for special treatment. They often have a good deal of leeway in handing out cash and vouchers for hotel rooms and food. Take the high road, and you increase your chances of getting more than an angry glare. If you are a frequent flier, by all means mention it. Full-fare passengers and upper-echelon frequent fliers generally get priority treatment.

Keep your requests reasonable. Don't hesitate to remind the gate agent of terms in the airline's contract of carriage, as well as government reglations, (which you have of course familiarized yourself with before launching into any heated discussions), but don't beat them over the head with it. Don't beat anything or anybody unless you'd like to spend the night in jail, which, as bad as sleeping in the terminal may be, is not a desirable option.

More tips and top secrets about being bumped and canceled:

Trapped on the Tarmac

Have a Back-Up Plan